By B N Kumar
Joy Alukkas stands as an embodiment of the tireless entrepreneurial spirit that shaped the UAE.
If someone said money makes the world go around, in Dubai, nothing speaks louder than the dirham. So, what happens if a 45-year-old man in modest attire walks into a Rolls Royce showroom and shows his interest to buy a Silver Seraph. The salesman quickly tries to direct the visitor to the next-door Mitsubishi shop saying, you want a car, go there! Grave insult, the prospective buyer thought to himself and stuck to his guns.
Meet Joy Alukkas who went to the Rolls Royce showroom to meet his friend Ashraf. As Ashraf was not immediately available, Joy spotted the Silver Seraph and tried to have a close look at it. As Joy was trying to gulp the insult, Ashraf arrived on the scene. Joy managed to convince the friend to let the car in display go and the visitor has now become a Rolls Royce customer.
Not merely happy with the deal, Joy decided to teach the luxury car showroom a lesson. He kept the vehicles for a raffle offer. By the way, the modest looking Joy was already an established gold jewellery businessman in UAE. That’s it. Rolls Royce, which used to proudly display at Dubai airport one of its top-end cars for fly-buy-Dubai festival, discontinued after what Joy did.
Joy narrates many such fascinating incidents in his book Spreading Joy: How Joyalukkas Became The World’s Favourite Jeweller, co-authored by Thomas Scaria and Nidhu Jain.
Joy stands as an embodiment of the tireless entrepreneurial spirit that shaped the UAE, says Dr Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, UAE. And as you read the book you realise that the Minister is 100% right.
Joy hails from Thrissur, India’s gold town in Kerala, where his father Puthussery Alukka Joseph Varghese moved into jewellery retail from his umbrella business. It was in 1986 that Joy few into the UAE in search of his El Dorado. Thus began his journey as a modest success, betrayal by a trusted family friend and then establishment of Joyalukkas as an international brand as the world’s favourite jeweller.
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SPREADING JOY – How Joyalukkas Became the World’s Favourite Jeweller
By Joy Alukkas with Thomas Scaria and Nidhi Jain
PP: 255.
Price: Rs 699
Published by: Harper Business
Available on Amazon
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One message is very clear from Joy’s life is that you may hold your head high, but it must be done with all humility and with no rancour or ill-will, come what the adverse situations are.
As the co-authors say, Joy is a leader with a rare combination of genius and passion. Behind a quiet and unassuming exterior lay a ferocious drive to succeed – one that recognised no boundaries, limits or accepted norms.
His hunger to learn stands out as one of the keys to his success. Here is something that Joy learnt from his father that he imbibed. According to Appan (that was what the Alukka kids would call their father), the four pillars of a business are: quality control, rigorous compliance, price discovery and customer service.
Joy sums up his father’s philosophy: he put business before self. He learnt all these in Thrissur as he worked with Appan after his academic career came to a premature end. “I worked hard, but also played hard and managed to find time for travel and adventure,” Joy shares his joyful journey.
For a well-established global businessman, Joy’s lifestyle is simple. “I don’t indulge in any extravagant idiosyncrasies to provide fodder for social media,” he says and admits on the face of it may sound like a dull lifestyle.
All work and no fun? He loves football, but the most fin that he has is at work.
While Joy’s businesses are standing there in the Gulf and India, let us look at some unusual aspects of Joy’s life defined by the moral duty of giving back. The Joyalukka Foundation is dedicated to improving the lives of the underprivileged. The greening of Joyalukkas plans to go for eco-friendly packaging and raise awareness among the customers.
Joy is witness to tectonic changes the jewellery retail has undergone – from standalone stores to organised retail chains to e-commerce platforms. Technology is shaping the future of business and Joyalukkas is working on its own metaverse.
He planned to retire at 60, then at 65. He knows he has miles to go ….the anticipation of an action-packed day at work gets him out of bed every morning. Joy’s retirement stands postponed, indefinitely!
